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"I have listened to Catholic Answers Live for many years now. The show is informational, inspirational, faith building, and funny. I have been in the process of conversion for many years, and now at age 60, I will be joining the Catholic Church. The show and speakers have been my tutor and guide, and I am deeply grateful to all."

A man died on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, this past Sunday. He was a priest, theologian, and author, well-known in Catholic circles for writing books and articles that were theologically problematic. He was, one might say for lack of a better descriptor, a "liberal Catholic." As news of his death spread around cyberspace, Catholics on both sides of the Catholic theological spectrum commented on his passing in social media.

I usually write blog posts late in the evening on Sundays so that they can "go live" for the public first thing Monday morning. Recently though, I had spent the weekend battling the flu and wanted to get to bed early. But I had yet to write a blog post and could not think of anything to write about. Desperate for an idea, I threw up a bleg on my Facebook page, asking Friends:

I recently received a couple of apologetics inquiries that may not seem related on the surface, but that I believe are suggestive of a common problematic approach to the Mass. The first was about the propriety of Christmas pageants in church. The inquirer was very obviously put off by the common custom of small children acting out the Christmas story for the benefit of parishioners, and wanted to know if this kind of spectacle was appropriate in a church dedicated to the worship of God:...

It is not known how the town carpenter found out that his betrothed was pregnant. Perhaps she told him herself after returning from a months-long journey to visit relatives (Luke 1:38, 56). Written accounts would later report though that she was "found" to be with child, as if the news was not shared by the pregnant woman but...

"Since the sanctification of man is in the power of God who sanctifies, it is not in the competency of man to choose the things by which he is to be sanctified, but this must be determined by Divine institution."